razu

Old thread, but posting for others who find it. Do you have a removable breath shield on the inside of the helmet? Looks like a moustache when you remove it. I was fogging like mad on Mod 1 practice when my instructor told me to remove it. They work great for non-glasses wearing people, but direct breath straight into the backs of the lenses for us! I also found that wearing a neck thingy would restrict air from flowing up from the chin area. So I make sure there's a gap down there now. EDIT: I have since tried removing the neck skirt thing, and that's made things even better!

Thanks! Sure thing. This machine was spotless on Tuesday! Let's hope the fabled ACF50 does its job https://i.imgur.com/Sbdo3pM.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> https://i.imgur.com/SRwb1ML.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'> https://i.imgur.com/MB222Dt.jpg' alt='IMGUR>'>

I took my Mod 2 last week and since I've found this thread so helpful I thought it only right to post my experience. As I explained in my Mod 1 post, Plan A was to do a CBT in August, buy a 125 and ride through the winter, think about the test in Spring.. Well, once you start riding you just want the tests out of the way and get on riding.. I do the theory and somehow making it through the Mod 1. I've just finished the long ride back from Mod 1 on the 650cc Gladius, (really liked that bike BTW), and everything is feeling great! I feel like if I took the Mod 2 right now I'd pass! I immediately book in for Mod 2. There's a month wait so that gives me lots of time to practice on the YBR. I don't know if it was the nerves of the impending test, or getting back on the 125 after the stability of the big bike, but my riding just felt awful. Simple things started to become difficult. I'd be dabbing a foot here and there, everything felt rushed, whereas the week before I was on top of the world, serenely navigating the surrounding towns. I carried on, riding every night, assuming it would get better... The bike show came to the NEC, just up the road, and so I went to go and try sitting on every bike I could. Show was brilliant and I definitely recommend it. A sat on a load of bikes, confirmed a sports bike is never going to be my thing, and... fell in love... with the Ducati Scrambler. I had my eye on it beforehand, but spending a little time poking around it and trying it for size, I knew this was the bike for me! I was already stressing about my riding, so just to add a little more pressure, I decided to buy the bike before passing my test! Went along to the local dealer and they had the exact bike I wanted, an ex-demo Scrambler Icon with under 300 miles on it, for £3,000 less than new. SOLD! Now, there is logic to this. When I passed my CBT I was dying to get back out on the road. It took 3 weeks for the bike to turn up and that felt like forever. The way I figured it, I would feel worse to pass and not have a bike, than to fail and have the bike in the garage.. So, bike turns up. My riding is still awful. Weather is complete garbage. Not feeling Mod 2 one bit. I practice every night until the day comes.. I turn up to the training centre, it's foggy, and about 3 degrees. So first of all I wonder if it's going to go ahead. Instructor Suzie turns up, on the bike I did my Mod 1 on, great, loved that bike! It's just me to begin with, and we'll be joined later with the same man who did Mod 1 with me last time, he had failed Mod 2 in the mean time. Bummer, but, I'm happy as I know he was cool from last time. We go through the show me tell me and pillion questions as we wait for the traffic to die down and the fog to clear, (please). Then it's time for a last bit of training. Start the bike up... instantly reminded of why I'm doing this.. big bikes are just cool, no two ways about it. I do a little circuit of the place to get reacquainted and then we set off. Lots of pulling in in safe places, pulling out behind parked cars and vans, and a few hill starts. Well, verging on cliff-face starts if you ask me. I'm riding around and it still feels like I'm making lots of mistakes, and nothing is flowing. Despite this the instructor is saying everything's great. I'm not convinced, but we carry on. We go back to the training centre, other dude turns up. Explains how he failed his test, changing lanes, doing lifesaver but still not seeing a car in the lane! Okay, let's not do that today then! We're doing the test in Warwick and he's not from there, so I make sure to tell him about the 20 'zone' that's popped up and not altogether obvious. We get geared up again and we're off to Warwick! We go the long way to get a load of junctions and roundabouts in. I still feel like I'm making lots of little mistakes, but we're doing okay. We get to a roundabout and an ambulance appears behind us so we pull over. I'm in front and decide to get back to the line of the roundabout junction and stop before setting off. Other student thinks I'm going and almost rides straight into me! Hilarious, but not altogether calming before the test We get to the test centre. The road in is a 10mph limit, which I note, and seemingly some kind of pot hole farm. Great! We park up and go inside. Just enough time for a pre-test pee, then I'm whisked off to an office by a friendly examiner, bit of paperwork, mic on... go time! Show me tell me. I only remember him asking me a couple of questions. I definitely did the horn one, which I pointed at a learner driver before doing and the examiner said to not worry. Then what would I tell a pillion. Maybe there was another question, but I can't remember now. In my own time, let's go! Negotiate the car park, at 10mph, and wait for the first direction, are we going left towards the dual carriageway, or are we going right into town... My biggest worry about the whole test was making a bad decision on the dual carriageway, like overtaking to make 'progress' but then not having a big enough gap to get back into, or something like that. So naturally we head left to the A46 Before we get there though he says to turn left and I go down a road I've never been down, no worries, then into a one way street and asked to turn right. I've read the forums, I remember my instructor, get over to the right in good time. Okay this is going well! We head towards the A46 and meet a massive queue of traffic. Examiner says that if we ever get to the roundabout ahead then to turn left. We were in the queue for at least 10 minutes. During which time I had the opportunity to let a car joining from a side street into a gap in front of me. Not knowing whether that was the right thing to do on my test I just rode up to the car in front. The traffic starts to move and the examiner reminds me that he wants us to go left at the roundabout ahead. I thought that was a nice touch, but.. I know the roundabout, and it's a straight on and a right turn, but the lane arrows are covered in cars. I decide to indicate left anyway. We finally clear the roundabout and head to the A46 roundabout. I wait for "At the roundabout please take the third exit please..", but no, we go straight over! Unexpected! Although, I had checked the test routes and there were five, four in town and one that went out the back of Warwick. For no good reason I kept to the town for my practicing. Yet here we are, heading out to roads I had never seen before. To add to it, they're absolutely smothered in mud. Cool. We approach a side road and the examiner asks to turn right. I go into it fine, make all the right checks, but for whatever reason the bike would not turn as I wanted it to and I end up much wider than I wanted to be, I do an extra lifesaver to get back into position 2 and cancel my signal. I think to myself that must be a minor, but think of this thread and put it out of my mind, concentrate on the road ahead. Examiner asks me to pull up behind a quite large car, on a really quite narrow road. Neat-o. He's happy with my distance from the car and asks me to pull away when I'm ready. Look in right mirror, indicate, shoulder checks, look around car as best I can, e.g. I can't see further in the opposite lane than the front of the car, and we're off. Feel totally unstable, foot feels like it's going to come off the peg, when I start to see around the car. A Jaguar is right there, at the front of the car, doing 30mph. I get on the brakes before I cross into the lane and come to a stop. Do all my checks and set off again. Now, I didn't feel like I could have done anything else, but I rode away feeling like that was a definite fail. Again, put it behind me and carry on.. We wind through a few lanes and we appear at a road I know. This is the start of my independent ride he says. Follow the signs to Coventry. Now, I thought we'd manage 1 or 2 junctions of the A46 on the Leamington side, and I wasn't all that jazzed about that. Oh no, we're the M40 end, joining from the 2 lane bypass, much more than I thought possible on the test. Excellent! As we approach there are lorries in the left lane so I check and move over to the right slip lane, good they want to see progress. I approach the main carriageway and look in my mirror, to my amazement the road behind is almost clear, with a single car passing me as I join. Good, less to think about. In front of me, however, is the Warwick Lorry Fest 2019. I move to the right hand lane and clear a couple, making sure to keep under 70mph. Then a double lorry pulls out to overtake another, I sit behind and wait. It finally pulls back over as we approach a bend. I'm now free to overtake. I am now cornering at 70mph on a bike I've only ridden for a small number of hours, trying to overtake a lorry that's making more turbulent air than I've ever experienced before, trying to keep below the speed limit and checking to make sure there's a gap to get back into. Halfway round I glance at the speedo, 66mph, okay surely that's fine?? We clear the bend and I power past the lorry, pull back in and the examiner asks me to follow signs for Hill Wooton, the next junction. We get off, thank god, it's over! In all my relief of clearing my most dreaded part of the test I switch to auto pilot. I've been around this roundabout a million times in the last month and I always go to Warwick. As I glance at the turning for Hill Wooton I hear the examiner say "Just do what you'd normally do", and so I shoulder check, signal, and head for Warwick. Ooh, I know it's okay to go the wrong way, but it really doesn't feel good. The way we wanted to go would take us away from the test centre so we're clearly not done, but we're now heading straight for it. Perhaps we'll head back into town.. Nope, turn right at the roundabout.. that's the road the test centre is on! Keep it together. He asks to stop safely, then just a standard pull away. Just up ahead is the test centre and he asks to pull in.. I remember the 10mph limit, and find my way to a parking space. Neutral, engine off. Side stand down. Off the bike.... it's over! I apologise for going the wrong way, he says not to worry and we head inside. Do you want your instructor present, I don't know, yes? We go in the office...... I feel I've just put in one of the worst rides since before I even did Mod 1... but I passed!! And no rider faults!!! But two "rollockings". One was for not letting the car out in traffic, he pointed out bikers get a bad enough reputation as it is, so please be nice to other road users. And he asked just exactly how long I was intending to take when overtaking the double lorry, stressing that the quicker you get past the better, although I had got past safely enough and wasn't in rider fault territory. Again, like the Mod 1 examiner, this man was very friendly and just came across like he wants people to get into riding, just as safely as possible. He was covering though, so if you take your test in Warwick it almost definitely won't be with him. Many handshakes with Suzie my instructor. We talk through the test and wait for other student to get back. He turns up... passed too! Brilliant! We then get our L-plates taped over, don't get mics on, and just follow the instructor back to base, "Try to keep up!" she says I suppose my big take is that they aren't looking for a perfect ride. I think I set the standard in my head far higher than is actually required. Even though I felt I was riding badly, I was doing all the checks and positioning the bike correctly, (I guess my wide corner wasn't all that wide, or my additional shoulder check made up for it??). Also, if you can get on a 125 for a few weeks before your Mod 2 I think it's a big help. Practicing all the junction types and roundabouts beforehand until they're second nature really helped me. Pretty quickly you feel relaxed, do everything in good time and don't feel so rushed. So, I've gone from having never ridden a bike in July, to passing my test and sitting on my 800cc Scrambler in December. I'm still in shock really. It doesn't seem real that I'm allowed to roam the streets on this absolute beast, but I very much am! I spent most of the weekend lost in surrounding country roads, just amusing myself with the sound of the engine, and in wonder of the power. I can go 60mph no matter which way the wind is blowing, uphill or downhill Still love my little YBR though, and that's sticking around for my boy who turns 17 next April! I absolutely recommend Suzie of Motocoastal/riders coventry. Friendly, sets a relaxed atmosphere, and really knows how to teach and coach. Top notch!

Oh, the formatting ruined my diagram! The crossing point I used was just inside the final cone. It gives you lots of room. I was trying to cross in the middle of the figure of 8 cones initially, which makes it far more difficult!

Hi! This forum has been so useful in my training that I feel I have to post my experiences in the hope it'll help somebody in the future. At the age of 43, (and after 25ish years of driving cars), I decided motorcycling was for me off the back of a conversation with a friend who was starting the DAS process. I knew I didn't want to do a week long course and buy a ridiculously powerful bike as I saw them, so I decided on Plan A: spend the winter on a 125cc bike and think about the test next year. I booked a CBT, bought some gear and waited for what felt like a million years. Finally the day came and I was sitting on a geared motorcycle. I remember starting it up and being surprised at how growly a 125cc bike sounds, (when you're sat on it). The weather had gone mad and we spent the morning trying to ride around cones in 40mph winds. I took a fair few goes to pull away nicely, looking back I think I was just not releasing the back brake, but throughout the morning became more and more confident. The biggest lesson was aiming my head to set a target and really steering to lock to do u-turns and figure of eights. The ride was called off due to conditions and so we returned the next morning. A couple of minutes riding in the training area before we headed out, with me in front! We did a full 2 hours but it felt like minutes. I will never forget hitting my first 60mph road - with cars flying past in the opposite direction at a combined speed of 120mph... Ride went okay, certificate issued and I started to look for a 125cc bike and get some miles under my belt, wait for spring and start the rest of the process... I bought a Yamaha YBR, which I absolutely love, and practiced and practiced and practiced. I'd ride around after work, finding the most awkward junctions in town, if I ever thought that way is more difficult, I'd go that way. Sometimes I'd just do laps of blocks, practicing right hand turns from minor to major, major to minor roads. Ten laps of a block worked out to be 2 of each type of right turn and it didn't take long to feel like I had a lot more time. To begin with I was rushing, going too fast, and making a complete mess of things! I'd also go out in the countryside, which really is where I felt I'd spend most of my time once I got my license. I watched a million youtube videos on cornering, and started practicing countersteering. I really can't stress enough how important it is to start out slow and build up confidence on roads you know. It doesn't take long. Just keep going around the same roads. I remember really disliking the wind to begin with, it was so off-putting. But you just get used to it after a while. Stay relaxed and the bike deals with it itself. Progress started to slow. I was confident. But I had only been riding for 6 weeks, not 6 months, which was Plan A. Ah well, what harm could doing my theory do? Well, some, as I was caught speeding on the way! 36 in a 30 which I thought was a 40! The speed awareness course just became more training . I got an app and went through an endless array of questions, then tried the hazard perception test, which felt impossible to start with. After trying all the videos it became a lot easier. I managed to answer all the questions correctly and got a pretty high score on the hazard tests. Great! Step 2 of 4 complete, I no longer have to think about the theory test. As soon as the weight of the impending theory test is lifted... Mod 1 enters my mind. I watch video after video. It's so intimidating! Foot down, FAIL! Hit a cone.. FAIL!! There's a speed trap!! And, it's all on the fabled 'big bike'. Which at this point are a complete mystery, they look far too big to control! I ride around on the YBR for a few days and then think... what harm could getting the Mod 1 out of the way do? I book it! 6 week wait... I re-watch all the videos. I watch the motojitsu dude... I buy some cones and scour google maps for office car parks I can use at the weekends. I take my cones and lay out the slalom and figure of eight! This is it! Time to put some work in!! I ready myself. Set off... and... go round all the cones and end up doing endless figures of eight. Hmmm, this is somewhat easier than I thought. All the practice in traffic seems to have paid off. But, I kinda felt a bit let down. I was still in awe of the mod 1 test, it still seemed really difficult and this wasn't making me feel any better. I had booked a 2 day course, training on day 1, bit of training and the test on day 2. Checked the email, test in Kettering...!? The training centre was in Coventry. That's over an hours ride away.. check the weather.. about 3 degrees! And there's a long dual carriageway to get there! I've not been on a dual carriageway on a bike yet!! Too many things to think about! I decide to try out dual carriageways on the YBR, with a ride to Stratford. Well, that was an experience. I don't really recommend it as 70mph is entirely dependent on forces beyond your control, but at least I've demystified the dual carriageway, and in fact they are very easy on a bike, you feel like you have loads of room! The day arrives. Mod 1 training. What's the instructor going to be like? Please let them be nice! I turn up and instructor Suzie is fitting new mirrors to one of her training bikes. Within moments the conversation is flowing, everything is cool, other student turns up, also easy conversation, atmosphere good, let's get on with it! Brief run through what we're going to do, cup of tea, then gear on, out to the bikes that have been warming up. A pair of Suzuki Gladiuses, (Gladiusii??). We do the manual handling. These bikes are so heavy! I quickly decided to do straight back, u-turn with handlebars, straight back as it was less strenuous and gave lots of chances to look around. Then I get on the bike. Oh, it's massive. Foot controls are in a different place to what I'm used to. Weird! Start it up.. Oh wow, the engine note is so deep, it's fantastic. Time to just set off and ride around the training area.. Pull away, and head for some cones. Weave around a couple of cones and feel like big bikes are some kind of in-joke. The bike is a million times more stable than a 125. Confidence jumps! I do the slalom and figure of 8. No problem. Picking the point you want to cross the figure of 8 is the important bit. You want to hit the X going both ways: S S S S S B X B Things are going great, let's try the u-turn! It's only a part of the figure of 8, what's the fuss? Well, for me, the u-turn was the end of level boss of the Mod 1. A mental battle that I was not winning. Training and instruction was great, but I just could not turn the bike tight enough, I'd stop turning half way. I was a metre wide at times. Also, it's far easier if you go faster, 6-7mph rather than the 4 for slalom, but I kept killing the speed! The weirdest thing was turning around to try again I could do it fine, it's just when the lines were there I'd stop turning!? We finished the low speed stuff and headed over town to a bigger facility that we could to the high speed stuff at. A ride on town and country roads on a big bike. And it was amazing. The power of a 650cc engine is phenomenal! Once you're going it really is no different to ride than a 125. You just twist the throttle less. The heaviness melts away as soon as it's moving. High speed course. We start out with just trying to hit a low speed at the speed trap. Our course is smaller than the real thing and it's quite tricky to begin with, but progress is made. Then the emergency brake. We have ABS so there's no worry about locking up the wheels. It's mainly an exercise in getting to speed and not putting the clutch in too early. One attempt I put the bike back in first gear which is not necessary. Then the swerve! I had been weaving around manhole covers at 30mph on the YBR in anticipation. Wondering how much worse if would be... Well, the swerve was a non-event. You only really swerve out, then meander your way back. And you can sort of angle your way through so there's not all that much swerve in the first place. We then do a whole mock test to standard. Which is hugely confidence inspiring. We just need to do this tomorrow! Then it's the ride back, the long way. And it was fantastic, reaffirming why you're putting yourself through this process. The power, the weight... big bikes are just plain cool. Get back to the training centre, debrief, drive home. Go out on the YBR... has somebody shrunk my bike...!?? Ridiculous! Day 2, test day! It's freezing! Test centre phones to say pad is frozen, and will report back later, luckily it thaws and it's on, but this is as cold as possible.. great! All I want to practice is the u-turn. And I reckon only a quarter of the ones I did were okay. I decide to switch to slalom and figure of 8s... and start putting my foot down on the figure of 8s!!! Everything's going wrong. Suzie asks me what I'm doing different and I think I'm trying to get them as small as possible, which is unimportant. Try again, bigger circles, no problem. Back to the u-turns. Fail a few then do a couple of good ones.. lets end on a high! Although... I know I'm not great at them. Ride over to Kettering, again, amazing! Getting more and more confident on the bike. Look in the mirrors and instructor and other student are in the distance, better slow down! Look in the mirrors later to check we're together, we are, look ahead... a pheasant in position 1, walking into the road, I ready for impact, it jumps, I duck at 60mph, pheasant clears my head by centimetres! Jeez!! We stop off for coffee, final talk over how we're feeling then on to the test centre. I'm first. Into the office, paperwork, examiner seems nice, out to the bike. Man tells me what to do. I get on the bike, do shoulder checks, and ride through the gates into the parking bay. Test is on!! Manual handling is simple. Then you're on the bike, ready for the main event. For every part I had the same routine. He'd explain the thing. I would take a moment, breathe, look into the distance.. decide to start, do observations, then do the thing. So, slalom and figure of 8. Slalom no problem, figure of 8 super wide with the easy crossing point. Biggest worry was when to stop, but the examiner made it very clear and simple. Slow ride to the cones. I originally though this would be tricky, but the big bike is so stable it's nothing to worry about, just keep an eye on speed. Then.. the u-turn. With every passing second the area looks smaller and smaller. The man says to go in my own time. I do the routine. Shoulder checks, set off, move as far left as possible, get stable, should check right, look ahead, look and turn... it's going okay, I'm halfway and I'm feeling this could go either way... looking at the end of the line and I'm almost done... turn complete and I'm in the line!! Stop the bike, foot down. It's done!!! I'm super happy but also aware we're not done. If I pass this then I never have to do another test conditions u-turn ever again! Game face back on! High speed stuff. Warm up sighter. I decide to get up to speed on the way out to the corner, as I can easily look at the speedo then and get a feel for the speed. The area is HUGE, and there's more than enough room to get up to speed. Round the corner, hit the speed trap, stop in the cones. All good. Emergency stop. Get up to speed again on the way out, slow, take corner, get back up to speed, look at man... STOP! Man says to ride over to him - remember to do observations!! Ask if speed is okay, it is! Swerve. Again, get up to speed on way out, come back, cones are set up far easier than in practice. Swerve, stop. Speed is okay! Man tells me to wait there for him to open gates and wait for the car park to be clear. This was a nice touch as other people have failed on this and it feels wrong to me. He waves, I do observations, ride out and park up. Examiner immediately tells me I have passed and a huge relief washes over me! We go to the office and he gives his feedback, 2 minors. Emergency stop could have been quicker, says to trust the brakes. And the u-turn, I got too close to the left line as I set off, but not too close to fail. Phew! He then adds some extra general riding advice and I come away with the feeling that they really do just want you to be a good safe rider. Other student passes and we ride back to end a successful day! Mod 1 is a huge obstacle, but most of it is a mental barrier. I think my instructor ended my training just at the right point, before I started to over think it. I absolutely recommend Suzie of Motocoastal Training/Riders Coventry. She set a relaxed atmosphere, clearly set out what we had to do and how to do it, used a few tricks that really helped, and gave excellent feedback throughout. Brilliant! You don't really get anything for doing Mod 1, other than the chance to do Mod 2. But really, going to sleep knowing you never have to do Mod 1 ever again is the best reward. No more u-turns!